The Winds of Change Saga: Lovely
by Shinzui Naru
Summary: (Short story, AU) Rayne and Max's relationship takes a turn for the worst...


Lovely…

Lovely… 

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. But I _do_ own Rayne Cetauri and Max Kine. ^_^

Notes: Disclaimer should tip you off as to who the fic's about. I'm sorry; I had to do it. I wanted to write Rayne/Max (or 6xM ^_^) and what better time than now, hmm? Sorry to those 6xM fans for the end, though…turns out a little odd. I'm in a kinda depressed mood today, so the fic might reflect that a little.

This also doesn't appear anywhere in the _"Winds of Change Saga"_ except here. It's not in the actual timeline…consider it an AU (alternate universe) fic, ok? ^_^

I couldn't ask for a better day. Everything was perfect…absolutely perfect.

_"Lovely."_ The word echoed through my mind as I waited. _"Lovely, lovely…"_ And so was she. Not that I was surprised; she always seemed so perfect in my eyes.

Maybe that's why I was so scared of her. She was just too good for me…I never wanted to spoil that perfection.

It was never hard for me to talk to her…things just changed so quickly; it was hard for me to keep up. But after…

Everything changed after she came to Earth. She had this look in her eyes…like she had seen it all, and nothing else could compete. She had circled the rings of Saturn and come back home, and she would never be the same.

To tell the truth, I didn't like the change in her. There was something so strange about her eyes…

I took a bite out of the apple I was eating, and looked at my watch. She was late. 

It had already been twenty minutes, but I decided to wait a little while longer. After all, I was already there; I'd might as well.

And then, there she was. It was no wonder she had been late; she was with that guy…what was his name? Started with a _D_…

They were walking at a leisurely pace, laughing and talking as they went. Not like I was _jealous_ or anything…

But she looked like she did before…before the accident. The clouds in her eyes had disappeared when she spoke to him, and when she laughed with him.

Okay, so I was jealous. 

She stopped laughing when she saw that I was waiting.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she apologized. "I guess I lost track of time…"

"Nah, it's okay," I said, shrugging. "Everyone's late once in a while." I casually smiled at the other guy. "Nice to see you again…um…"

"Duo," he answered. I figured it was something like that. He seemed to be about a year older than me, but still close to my own height. 

I had nearly eaten the core of my apple, and I threw it into a nearby trashcan with a sigh.

"Well," he said," I'll leave you two alone. See you later, Rayne…oh, and nice to see you again, Max." He turned around and waved good-bye as he walked away, putting his hand in the pocket of his black jeans.

Something in Rayne left with him. When she turned back to me, it was those familiar, clouded eyes that I met. There was something disturbing about those eyes…

"So, where to?" she asked. I shrugged, and with a laugh I said,

"Any place in particular you were thinking of?" She shook her head. "Oh, c'mon, any place at all?"

"Well, there's this cute little place a few blocks away…"

"Sounds good to me," I told her. 

We walked to the restaurant, and on the way there we talked.It started as a discussion about recent news, and a few streets from the restaurant it morphed into a talk about the Gundams. As we were sitting at our table it turned into the Gundam pilots.

"So then Quatre took the eggs off of the burner just as Wufei and Duo were getting into a huge fight…*" she said quietly. "I had forgotten them when I tried to break it up. But Duo looked at me and said, 'I'm not going to take crap from him, especially about my friends…' I thought it was really nice of him to defend me like that, but with Wufei, those comments are predictable."

I wasn't paying attention at all. Once she had started talking about her friends like that, I felt completely left out and just withdrew from the conversation. Apparently she noticed this.

"You okay?" she asked. I nodded, but I didn't say anything. "Well, as I was saying…"

She seemed so much happier when the Gundam pilots were involved. There was just so much more to talk about with them…but what do you expect from five guys with such wild personalities? Of course there will be a lot of excitement.

She went on talking, but then she stopped and glared at me for a minute.

"Are you even listening?" I blinked and nodded.

"Of course," I told her. "Why?" She narrowed her eyes in disbelief.

"Okay then, what was the last thing I said?"

Shit.

"Erm…uh…" I stuttered. This was bad. Very bad. "Oh, look, here comes our food!" Saved by the waitress! I silently thanked God for all waiters and waitresses on Earth and started shoving my cheeseburger into my mouth.

"So what did I say?" she asked before taking a bite of her spaghetti. She was right; this was a very strange place. How many places will serve cheeseburgers, spaghetti, and Asian food at the same place?

I 'mmmphed' a reply and continued eating. By the time we were done eating, neither of us would remember anything about the accusation.

She toyed with her pasta for a few minutes, idly spearing it with her fork, studying me. I felt her eyes travel over my face and suddenly got nervous. I knew those gestures. She was mad at me for something…

But _what_?

"Max, what's gotten into you lately?" she asked suddenly. I raised an eyebrow and swallowed my mouthful of cheeseburger. 

"What do you mean?" I queried.

"Well, you know…the last few weeks you've been acting really weird, like you're afraid to talk to me or something. Is something going on?"

What, did she think I was _cheating_ on her? What kind of person did she think I was?

"No, everything's fine," I explained. I started to talk, but then I stopped myself. I don't think it's really very polite to say, _'it's you who've changed.'_

So we both dropped the issue, and finished eating in silence.

I offered to pay the tab, and we left after that. She thought it would be nice to take a walk through the park…uh, literally. There was this beautiful recreation park; it was about a ten-minute talk to get there. We walked quietly…there wasn't much to say. There was enough tension in the air to make me feel like I was suffocating.

She cleared her throat and looked up at a nearby building. I could feel the nervousness in her mind and I looked away from her.

We reached the park a little while later, and were about to pass an ornamental stone fountain when I heard a familiar voice.

"Rayne! Max!"

It was Quatre, one of the nicer of Rayne's friends, and also a Gundam pilot.

"Quatre!" Rayne shouted cheerfully, waving at the small blond-haired boy. He ran towards us and started talking with Rayne. I stood idly for a minute and then went to sit on a nearby bench while they chatted.

I watched them talk and started to think. She seemed so much happier around them…Quatre and Duo, that is. But then she changed when she talked to me. That happiness that I saw other times vanished, and I was left with her shell. 

Quatre said his good-byes to Rayne and waved at me, and then he left. She sat down beside me on the bench and I suppressed a sigh.

"Rayne, we need to talk…"

"What about?"

"Everything," I muttered. "Everything's changing, you know? So fast…and you…you…"

"I what?" she asked, blinking curiosity at me.

_"How can this be so hard to say…?"_ I wondered. "Listen, Rayne…About-"

"This is about them, isn't it? Duo and Quatre being my friends. Look, Max, don't be jealous…" I gritted my teeth. Yes, she got it. But that wasn't all of it. 

"No, that's not what's wrong," I snapped quietly, standing up. "Look…" I sighed and took a deep breath. "Duo and Quatre…they're both after your heart…they're more competition than I can handle," I explained. I felt my heart breaking as I spoke, but I forced myself to continue. "So I…I'll let you choose between them, and I'll…I'll leave you alone." I turned to walk away.

"But I don't love them," she shouted. "I love _you_!" I shook my head and kept walking. She might have thought that she loved me, but she really didn't…not in her heart. She needed everything that I couldn't give her, and I decided to leave her to find those things herself.

I loved her for so long…and I _still_ love her. In the back of my mind I hoped that she would try to stop me from leaving, but she didn't. As I walked away, I assured myself that there would be another time, and another place, and then…_then_, everything would be lovely again.

*I'll give you a cookie if you can guess what story that's from! ^_^

Sooo, strange ending, ne? They always seem like a perfect couple… *sigh* I guess that's the way it goes, though. Guess what?? As of right now, I'm considering writing another main book to the series! *Everyone screams and runs in panic* Now, now, simmer down peeps, it's not that bad and you know it. Face it, you _liked_ the series…otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. So **:**P to you. Anyways, send questions, comments, ideas (for future books, maybe?) to [Starseeker__1@hotmail.com][1], or send me an instant message. My AIM screen name is Starseeker320. 

By the way, while you're here, why not leave a nice review for me? I'd love you forever if you did!

   [1]: mailto:Starseeker__1@hotmail.com



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